


Day 16: Neighbors

by CosmoandWanda



Series: AU August [16]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 07:53:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15703014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmoandWanda/pseuds/CosmoandWanda
Summary: Tom is trying to learn Manadrin for this girl next door.





	Day 16: Neighbors

**Author's Note:**

> So I do actually speak a little mandarin, I'm a curriculum writer for my university's Chinese department rn (sounds fancier than it is #smallschoollife) and I thought this would just fit Sabine/Tom as neighbors super well. I used pinyin in the story instead of characters!
> 
> “Ni hao, wo shi… wait no, wo xue zhongwen…” = Hello, I am... wait no, I am studying Chinese..."

“Quick, hide me!” Sabine whispered to her mother. 

Yue smiled as her teen, the teen who had been taller than her since age 12, attempted to hide. Yue kept gardening, happy that her daughter was quietly handing her the pruning shears as she spied on the neighbors. 

Gina was walking to her motorcycle as Tom, her son, patiently listened to the things he needed to do while she was gone. Sabine chuckled to herself as she heard the older woman say, “and NO experiments mon chou!” before her bike roared to life. She waited a few seconds after Gina had left before peeking out behind her mother. 

“Daughter, please just go over and talk to the boy,” her mother said, speaking in mandarin. 

“I will not, not until he asks!”

Their voices had caught the attention of the tall boy standing nearby. He looked towards them, but Sabine pretended not to notice. She also pretended not to notice when he started coming towards them. 

Sabine was proud. She knew it, and her mother knew where she got it, but neither would admit it. It wasn’t until a rather large shadow encompassed her than Sabine turned around.

“Ni hao, wo shi… wait no, wo xue zhongwen…” Tom stuttered through the sentence, his attempt at speaking Mandarin bringing a grin to Yue’s face, and astonishment to her daughters.

“Tom, we both speak French,” the latter said. 

“I know, but I thought it might be… I mean, you guys had to learn a new language after coming here, it really only seems fair…” Tom blushed heavily under Sabine’s scrutinizing gaze, only to be interrupted by Yue’s small laugh. 

“You’re doing well for learning on your own. Sabine will help you with pronunciation,” and with a small grin, the older woman gathered her gardening supplies and headed inside. 

Now it was Sabine’s turn to blush. Ever since they had moved to France a year ago, their neighbors had been incredibly helpful. Gina had only recently split with her husband, and welcomed their company. Tom too, seemed more than happy every time they came over. Her dad took great delight in Tom’s interest in baking, recruiting him to try making egg tarts that he missed from home. 

It was no secret that Sabine’s parent’s deeply enjoyed Tom’s interest in Sabine, and as the first to learn French, Sabine felt she was almost impervious to their scheming after translating around it for so long. 

Today proved otherwise. 

“So neighbors to tutor, huh?” Tom joked awkwardly. 

Sabine couldn’t help but let a smile creep onto her face. 

“Well then, student, let’s get started…”


End file.
